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FINMA Penalizes Swiss Bank over Money Laundering of $78 Million

Richard Marley
January 22, 2021
2 minutes read
1957

The Swiss regulatory authority, FINMA, initiated a lawsuit against the senior management at Julius Baer, a Switzerland-based private banking group. The prosecution was filed against two former CEOs of the bank on Thursday, keeping their identity confidential. The allegations possibly point towards Boris Collardi and Bernhard Holder, which are now partners with Pictet – an independent wealth management group – since they confirmed receiving written notices.

The Swiss regulator, in a statement on previous executives, asserted, “Although mistakes were made in the case of the two reprimanded managers, there are not sufficient indications of direct, causal responsibility for the serious violation of supervisory law.”

FINMA, according to its more rigorous sanction, can ban an entity or individual from working in the financial sector for a time of five years. Last year, Julius Baer faced the music for widespread failings in their corporate financial system. The regulator alleged former executives of laundering more than $78 million to a Venenzualen customer in 2014.

Being the third-largest bank in the country, criticism from FINMA took a toll on its global repute and market value. FINMA appointed an external auditor to look into the company affairs, and ensure Anti Money Laundering requirements are met.

Apart from the former CEOs, FINMA indicated potential proceedings in the future against other personnel at Julius Baer as well. A spokesperson from the bank stated that the problem coincides with previous employees of the organization who are not here anymore. The Swiss bank contributed $80 million to make up for penalties and fines resulting in the agreement on the FIFA corruption case. On February 1, 2021, Julius Baer will update FINMA on the improvements it has made in its annual report.

A Julius Baer official shared his concerns about the former CEO, “We have full confidence in his work at Pictet.” Collardi in a statement said, “I accept the reprimand that has been issued. The key is that this decision now brings this matter to a close for me.”

Disclaimer: No warranty is herein provided that the information contained in this document is accurate, up-to-date, and/or complete. In no circumstance(s), does such information constitute legal or any other advice. Any person who intends to use, rely, pass-on, or re-publish the information contained herein in any way is solely responsible for the same. We suggest to verify the information and/or obtain expert advice independently if required.

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Shufti Pro’s Insights on Enhancing Customer Onboarding Experience
The digital world nowadays requires a lot of effort from businesses to ensure customer satisfaction. Various surveys and reports have revealed that one of the best ways to satisfy your customers is investing in customer onboarding initiatives. According to HubSpot, 63% of the customers consider the company’s onboarding process while making a purchase decision. Given the rapid boom in digitisation, the onboarding process has digitised as well. Yet again, the question remains unanswered as to how can businesses enhance user experience during customer onboarding. To answer this question, Shufti Pro has gathered some vital elements that can help businesses in enhancing the client onboarding experience.

Let’s take a look at Shufti Pro’s findings.

Why is Customer Onboarding Important?

According to a study, 74% of the customers switch brands if they find the customer onboarding process complex. A brand’s onboarding process sets the tone for your future relationship with the customers. The client onboarding process is also responsible for an increase/decrease in customer lifetime value.

Delivering state of the art customer services is the biggest goal of businesses now and it begins with a top-notch customer onboarding process that can encourage customers to build a long-term relationship with the business. The idea is not restricted to B2C companies but every B2B company has to ensure the efficiency of the process.

A study reveals that 75% of the new-users leave the business within the first week and 40 – 60% of the free trial customers never return. In easier words, it is the customer onboarding process that can change these numbers for your business.

A Message from Shahid Hanif, Cofounder and CTO of Shufti Pro

Co-founder and CTO of Shufti Pro, Shahid Hanif, has shared his views on the customer onboarding process and how it affects the entire business:

“Being an expert in the FinTech industry, I strongly emphasize businesses to improve their client onboarding process regularly. Acquiring customers is becoming a tough challenge in the competitive world we live in. After so many years of experience, I have realised that your high-quality services can become meaningless in seconds if you cannot provide a classical experience to the customers during the onboarding process.”

What Our Experts Have Suggested for Efficient Customer Onboarding

Shufti Pro has won awards for its outclass user experience and customer support. Our team is constantly working on bringing more convenience for our customers and the end-users. According to our experts, here’s what all businesses must do to improve the client onboarding process and enhance the customer experience.

Facial Biometric Authentication for Convenient Signups

Signing up is the first step in the customer onboarding process and it must be the easiest one too. However, some businesses overlook its vitality and complex registration leads to a significant increase in customer drop-off rate. With the help of facial biometric authentication, it gets a lot convenient for customers to complete the signup or registration process.

Shufti Pro’s facial biometric authentication is a simple solution for a complex problem. Users have to submit a selfie and government-issued ID document for registration. The identity record is maintained and the user can later login with a selfie.

Identity Verification Checks in the Least Possible Time

Customers of this era want to spend a minimal amount of time irrespective of the process. When it comes to customer onboarding, their expectations are higher than usual and meeting them is what businesses have to do. It is said that providing a sense of security to the customers works well and what could be better than employing identity verification solutions during the customer onboarding process. ID verification allows businesses to fight fraud and make their customers feel valued and secure. But it should be kept in mind that businesses should incorporate identity verification checks that take only a few seconds to complete.

Shufti Pro’s digital identity verification solution is robust and requires 30-60 seconds to fight frauds. Moreover, our Video KYC process is a more convenient option since it offers a higher level of convenience through remote verification.

Acquire the Right Customers at the Right Time

Timing is everything for the corporate world. Introducing a product at the wrong time or at the wrong place may not be very fruitful for the business. Similarly, identity verification during customer acquisition must have an ideal time as well. Some industries like the finance sector are obligated to perform ID verification checks. However, the stage at which you incorporate the mechanism needs consideration. Rightly incorporating the system can make a huge difference in customer experience during the onboarding process. On the contrary, wrong timing for verification can become a business’s nightmare.

A Little Friction for Gaining Customer Trust

Speedy checks and a five-second onboarding process of customers sounds great but too much ease can also be a problem. Sometimes adding too many conveniences can also leave customers in doubt about the process. Some businesses add an artificial waiting time to combat this issue. Identity verification may be an extra step in the flow but it is important. Moreover, customers find ID checks more cumbersome than any other part of the customer onboarding process. So, businesses can reduce the time of other steps to make the process effortless.

Our experts suggest that the signup or registration process must not take a lot of time. No more than 5 – 10 seconds would suffice. Then, the identity verification process can consume a minute or so. Ultimately, the client onboarding process will take the ideal time of the customers.

Identity Verification – An Add-On for Many Industries

Identity verification is mandatory for many sectors but they can employ it as an add-on in the onboarding process. This is generally related to the industries where verification of identities comes as a surprise for customers. The retail sector, sharing economies, gambling industry etc. fall under this category. These areas must add value to the process for their customers with ID checks.

Shufti Pro offers Know Your Customer (KYC) identity verification solution to almost every sector across the world. With our AI-driven services, any business can enhance the user experience and add value for the customers. All it takes is a few seconds for real-time identity verification with Shufti Pro.

Don’t Forget to Follow-Up

We have experimented this measure and strongly suggest businesses to follow up with the customers regularly. Never leave customers on their own once the onboarding process is complete. As important it is to make the customer onboarding process efficient, following up with them has equal importance. Customers feel valued when companies put in efforts to enhance the onboarding processes and acknowledge their feedback.

In a Nutshell…

Enhancing user experience through efficient customer onboarding is an accepted phenomenon across the world. Different studies have revealed that customer engagement begins with the client onboarding process. While businesses are wondering about better ways to enhance their customer onboarding process, Shufti Pro’s experts have shared their tried and tested methods. According to them, adding the identity verification solution has changed the game for many of Shufti Pro’s clients. The drop-off rate has reduced and they have experienced a significant increase in profit. From registration to the last step of your onboarding procedure, convenience plays a crucial role in increasing customer lifetime value. Lastly, enterprises should never overlook the importance of follow-ups and feedback.

You can get in touch with us to know more about identity verification during the customer onboarding process.

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FINMA Penalizes Swiss Bank over Money Laundering of $78 Million

A Message from Shahid Hanif, Cofounder and CTO of Shufti Pro

What Our Experts Have Suggested for Efficient Customer Onboarding

Facial Biometric Authentication for Convenient Signups

Identity Verification Checks in the Least Possible Time

Acquire the Right Customers at the Right Time

A Little Friction for Gaining Customer Trust

Identity Verification – An Add-On for Many Industries

Don’t Forget to Follow-Up

In a Nutshell…

Let’s prove your

customer’s identity

with Shuftipro.

Let’s prove your customer’s

identity with Shuftipro.

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Cyprus

United Kingdom

Dubai

FINMA Penalizes Swiss Bank over Money Laundering of $78 Million

Why is Customer Onboarding Important?

A Message from Shahid Hanif, Cofounder and CTO of Shufti Pro

What Our Experts Have Suggested for Efficient Customer Onboarding

Facial Biometric Authentication for Convenient Signups

Identity Verification Checks in the Least Possible Time

Acquire the Right Customers at the Right Time

A Little Friction for Gaining Customer Trust

Identity Verification – An Add-On for Many Industries

Don’t Forget to Follow-Up

In a Nutshell…

Let’s prove your

customer’s identity

with Shuftipro.

Let’s prove your customer’s

identity with Shuftipro.